How to Do Things

Silly putty was invented accidentally during World War II. Japan had invaded a lot of rubber producing countries, creating a shortage of rubber which has many military uses. In an attempt to eradicate this shortage American scientists invented silly putty. Although silly putty didn’t fulfill the purpose it was created for, its properties of being vicious, sticky, bouncy and its ability to copy newspaper prints made it an instant hit among children. By 1987 2 million units of silly putty were selling annually. Now silly putty is available in various colors, even in glow in the dark variants. In this article we will discuss three methods of creating silly putty at home.

Ingredients Required:

• 2 cups of flour
• 5 eggs
• 3/4 cup of elmer’s white glue
• food coloring for color
• some water
• bowl to mix the ingredients in

Method One:

Pour the flour into a vessel. Crack open the eggs and add it to the flour. Mix thoroughly. Now slowly add the Elmer’s white glue and keep mixing. Once done add a few drops of food coloring and mix it some more. Adding about 8 tablespoons of water and give it another whirl. To add some color simply add food coloring of your choice during the mixing process. Thats it you are done! Have fun playing with it.

Ingredients Required:

• 2 tablespoon of Borax
• 8 cups of warm water
• food coloring for color
• Elmer’s school white glue or Elmer’s standard while glue (School white works better for this recipe)
• bowl to mix the ingredients in

Method Two:

Mix 2 tablespoon of Borax into the warm water. Borax is toxic hence this recipe should only be followed by adults. Never eat or breathe in borax, its extremely dangerous. Keep away from kids and pets. Now squeeze some Elmer’s white glue into the water and keep on stirring. Release the glue into the water in a single strand and keep stirring for best results, as this will help Borax react with the glue. Elmer’s while school glue will produce a stretchy and bouncy material that is closer to the real silly putty than Elmer’s clear school glue or any other glue. If all you have is Elmer’s All-Purpose white glue then add about 2 tablespoons of water to about 8-10 tablespoons of glue and mix it thoroughly before mixing it with the Borax solution, as it will give you a much better and desirable texture. To add some color simply add food coloring of your choice during the mixing process.

Ingredients required:

• 4 cups of white glue (not Elmer’s glue as it wont work as well)
• 2 cups of liquid starch (mostly found in the laundry section, example – Sta-Flor)
• food coloring for color
• Bowl to mix the ingredients in

Method Three:

Pour the liquid starch into the mixing bowl. Add the glue and mix thoroughly. As mentioned above do not use Elmer’s glue as it will cause the putty to not bounce or pick pictures from newspapers. Adjust the proportions as per your requirements or till it starts feeling like commercial silly putty. To add some color simply add food coloring of your choice during the mixing process.